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Bulldogs fight hard in loss to Caprock

The Borger Bulldogs welcomed the Caprock Longhorns to town with an upset on their minds. Caprock has won the last two meetings between these teams, last year winning 63-49. They put up 70 points last week against Snyder, so the Bulldogs knew coming into the contest that they would have their work cut out for them this week. And boy did they go to work. Between the two teams, 97 points would be scored and 921 yards of offense would be accumulated. Sadly, the Bulldogs came up just three points short to 4A Caprock at Bulldog Stadium.Caprock received and returned to midfield to start the game. Suttle had a great play on defense to save further damage, and the Bulldogs force a 4th down. The fake punt is unsuccessful, and Borger takes over at the 50. On 1st down, the pass is thrown incomplete, but Caprock gets a roughing the passer penalty to move the ball to the Caprock 35. Freeman would fumble, and the Longhorns recover. Caprock marches down the field. Fernandez knocks a pass down, Suttle makes a tackle at the 1, and Gowdy has a huge sack on 3rd down to hold the Longhorns to a fieldgoal. The score is 3-0 with 8:01 left in the first.The Bulldogs receive on their own 40 and Freeman has a couple of carries for a first down. On 4th and 3, Rendon keeps it and gets the 1st. A short pass to Lacy and another rush by Rendon found the Bulldogs on another 4th down. Freeman rushes for 8 yards to earn the first. Rendon then hands off to Gowdy who runs it in from 22 yards out, and the Bulldogs would take the lead 7-3 with 2:35 left in the 1st. After Caprock receives and has a long pass to the Borger 35, they would find the endzone quickly and go up 10-7 with 1:16 left in the 1st. The Bulldogs answer back quickly, however. After receiving, they are on their own 34. Rendon hands off to Freeman who proceeds to amaze the crowd with his beautiful run of 66 yards for the touchdown. The two point conversion is no good, and the Bulldogs lead again 13-10 with 4.8 seconds left in the first.Caprock would receive to begin the 2nd. Caprock throws 3 incompletes in a row because of pressure from the Bulldog defense, and they are forced to punt. Borger receives and Rendon is sacked for a loss and throws an incomplete. The Bulldogs are quickly forced to punt, and Caprock has great field position on the Bulldog 32. Caprock quickly scores, extra point is no good, and the score is now 16-13 with 8:31 left in the 2nd. On the return for the Bulldogs, Salinas returns it to the Bulldog 47. It quickly becomes 3rd and 8, and the snap for the punt goes over Newcomb's head, and Caprock ends up on the 10 yard line. The Bulldogs would hold Caprock and force 4th down, but the Longhorns score on 4th down. The score is now 23-13 with 5:19 left in the 2nd.The Bulldogs would go 3 and out and have to punt. Caprock marches to the Bulldog 39, and on the very next play, Henry has a big interception for the Bulldogs on their own 11. Rendon passes to Lacy and he runs for 81 yards to the Caprock 8 yard line before being pushed out of bounds. Rendon hands off to Freeman who runs the 8 yards for a Bulldog touchdown. The extra point is no good, and it is 23-19 with 2:58 left in the half. Caprock receives and Salinas has a great tackle to force the Longhorns to have no gain. Jeter and Fernandez combine for another great stop, and Gowdy would have a monster hit. Even with these stops, Caprock marches down the field again to the Bulldog 6. Henry knocks it out of the hands of the Longhorns receiver, but somehow it is called a touchdown by the official. The extra point is no good and it is now 29-19 with 36.7 seconds left in the half. The Bulldogs receive and run out the half.The 3rd quarter starts with the Bulldogs receiving and returning it to their own 40. Not wanting to waste any time, Rendon hands off to Freeman and he runs 60 yards to pay dirt behind the great blocking of Orona and McKinney. The extra point is good, and the Bulldogs trail by 3, 29-26 with 11:38 left in the 3rd. Caprock receives and Gowdy then drops the quarterback for an 8 yard loss. The Dogs are fired up at this point, and force Caprock to a 4th and 19. Lacy and Fernandez had a couple of short runs for the Dogs before Rendon connects with Henry for 15 yards and a 1st down. Caprock would intercept Rendon, but a penalty on the Longhorns keeps the ball with the Dogs. After a holding penalty on the Dogs, it becomes 3rd and 20. Rendon connects with Guinn who takes it to he Caprock 23. Rendon then connects with Henry for another Bulldog touchdown. The extra point is good, and the Bulldogs go up yet again 33-29 with 4:46 left in the 3rd. On the next series by Caprock, McKee has a couple of great defensive stops, but Caprock fights their way to the Bulldog 15. Caprock scores from the 15, the extra point is good, and the score is now 36-33 Caprock with 1:52 left in the 3rd. Borger would start on their own 18 yard line, and Rendon is then sacked for a loss. A pass is incomplete to Guinn, and the Bulldogs are forced to punt it away. Gowdy and Lacy have great defensive stops to force a 3rd and 21 on the Longhorns. Caprock would convert and then some, scoring again from 5 yards out. Extra point is good, and the Longhorns extend their lead 43-33 with 10:57 left in the 4th. On the next series, the Bulldogs started on their own 34. Rendon connects with Myers for 21 hard-fought yards. After penalties, the Dogs faced 2nd and 16. Rendon keeps it and rushes for 6 to make it 3rd and 10. Who better to hand it off to? Rendon gives it to Freeman who runs for 35 yards for yet another touchdown. Extra point is good, and the Bulldogs cut the lead to 3, 43-40 with 7:20 left in the 4th. The defense would play spectacular in the next series and forces Caprock to punt it away quickly. Borger receives on the Caprock 40 yard line. After Gowdy's 4 yards, the Dogs were facing 4th and 6. Again, Rendon hands to Freeman, and he does what he does best.. runs it for 39 yards for his 4th touchdown of the night. The Bulldogs now lead 47-43 with 4:30 left in the game.Caprock receives and marches down the field yet again to the 3 yard line. They would score on the next play and go up 50-47 with 1:29 left in this exciting match. Borger receives, but can't seem to get anything going. It becomes 4th and 13 after 12 Freeman rush yards, and the Bulldogs turn over on downs. Caprock would kneel the clock out.The Bulldogs played with a whole lot of heart to a team that was predicted to beat them into the ground. They led the game many times, and even had more offensive yards than the Longhorns. The coaches did an outstanding job, and this was a great showing by your Borger Bulldogs.The Dogs finished with 462 total yards, 284 of those rushing. Caprock finished with 459 yards. The Bulldogs had 2 turnovers (compared to 7 last week) and 10 penalties. They finished with 22 first downs. Rendon was 6 for 17 with 178 yards and 2 touchdowns. Lacey had 2 receptions for 87 yards, and Henry had 2 for 43 yards and each had a touchdown. Gowdy finished with 3 carries for 30 yards and a touchdown. The absolute most outstanding performance was put on by sophomore (yes, sophomore) Kendrick Freeman who finished the night with 22 carries, 280 yards, and 4 touchdowns.Your Borger Bulldogs will take on private school Midland Christian next Friday night in Midland at 7:30pm.